With digital threats steadily on the rise, cybersecurity and protecting businesses with appropriate cybersecurity insurance should be a top concern for all business owners.
Yet most business insurance agencies offering cybersecurity coverage advise their clients that the best protection is prevention when it comes to digital security.
Avoid making claims to your insurance policy by observing these critical cybersecurity safety steps!
1. Create A Cybersecurity Plan
The worst time to decide how to handle a cyberattack is while it’s happening or after the fact.
Effective prevention starts by using a what-if scenario to plan out how cyber threats should be handled the moment they are discovered to mitigate damage.
Create company-wide technology and internet usage rules and develop an incident response plan as well as a disaster recovery plan, both of which may be required when you take out a cyber security insurance policy.&
2. Educate Employees and Keep Them Up-to-Date
After a plan has been developed and documented, train your employees on it.
Explain the importance of cybersecurity, what constitutes a threat, and the degree of damage that can occur if there is a breach.
Teach them safe practices and keep them current on things like software updates, new threats, and changes to policies to ensure the highest level of compliance.
3. Designate Responsibilities In Cyber Attack Prevention
Designating responsibilities is an effective way to implement any cybersecurity plan and keep employees up-to-date and accountable for doing their share to maintain digital security for the business.
Identify important roles to accomplish different steps in the policing and response plan, then assign the responsibilities required to carry them all out smoothly.
Teach employees to police themselves and each other to reduce events that could result in a breach and the damage that may result.
4. Identify Cyber Threat Risks
When creating an effective plan to reduce breaches and claims to your cybersecurity insurance policy, take the time to research and identify potential threats in order to include the protections necessary to thwart them.
Most of those risks come from third-party services and software like cloud servers, business software, and add-on applications that might not be as secure as they should be.
Review all third-party applications and procedures and if necessary choose replacements that offer the degree of built-in security necessary to protect your own business and reduce the possibility of a security breach.
5. Carry Cybersecurity Insurance
Lastly, for those unavoidable times when all else fails, carry a good cyber security insurance policy to protect your business.
Hacking and other security threats can be devastating, causing extensive financial damage and potentially leaving companies liable for the losses suffered by others as well.
Your insurance agency will help you create a solid protection plan and identify risks so there is less of a chance that you'll become a victim of a cyber attack and have to rely on the insurance policy as a means of recuperating from preventable damages.
Stay Protected Against Cyber Threats
Your cyber security insurance agency has the policies needed to protect your business against damaging cyber threats like ransomware, hacking, and other digital threats.
Still, taking necessary steps to prevent attacks or minimize damage is highly advised, as this will keep your risk level lower as well as your cybersecurity insurance premiums!
